Five weeks ago, a car hit me as I rode my bike in an unprotected bike lane on Garry Street. I was left with a serious concussion, a large cut on my nose and various bruises. The doctors and nurses at the Misericordia Health Centre told me, I was lucky — they've seen much worse vehicle and cyclist accidents.

I consider myself lucky, too. However, since this accident, my quality of life has drastically changed. I can't play sports, I can't read for extended periods of time, I have trouble focusing and remembering things. I get pounding headaches that start mid-way through the day and continue into the evening.

Yet, one of the worst outcomes from this accident is that I am unable to ride my bike.

For the past five years, I commuted to and from university, college and my job on my bicycle during the summer months. At 26 years old, I never owned my own vehicle up until a few weeks ago.

When I bike, I always use caution — never trusting drivers to understand unprotected bike lanes. I feel drivers and cyclists have always struggled to share the road in Winnipeg. And at the scene of my accident, a number of cyclists stopped to help me with one cyclist revealing a car had already hit her this year. I was taken aback by her frankness, and the conscious resignation she and I now understand that as cyclists, our commute is a risk we take — a risk that could cost us our lives.

Councillors, I know I am a stranger to you, but what if I was a cyclist you knew and cared about deeply — would you still argue against the Pedestrian and Cycling Strategy? Would my brain still not be worth more than 0.4 per cent of the capital budget to you?

I want you to understand that the five minutes I spend riding in the protected lanes on Assiniboine Avenue are the only time I feel safe during my 25-minute ride to and from work.